Adolescent tobacco-related associative memory: a cross-sectional and contextual analysis

Tobacco use is prevalent in adolescents, and understanding factors that contribute to its uptake and early development remains a critical public health priority. Implicit drug-related memory associations (DMAs) are predictive of drug use in older samples, but such models have little application to adolescent tobacco use. Moreover, extant research on memory associations yields little information on contextual factors that may be instrumental in the development of DMAs. The present study examined (a) the degree to which tobacco-related memory associations (TMAs) were associated with concurrent tobacco use and (b) the extent to which TMAs mediated the association of peer and self-use. A sample of 210 Australian high school students was recruited. Participants completed TMA tasks and behavioral checklists designed to obscure the tobacco-related focus of the study. Results showed that TMAs were associated with peer use, and TMAs predicted self-use. We found no evidence that TMAs mediated the association of peer and self-use. Future research might examine the emotive valence of implicit nodes and drinking behavior. The results have implications for testing the efficacy of consciousness-raising interventions for adolescents at risk of tobacco experimentation or regular use.

Course of substance misuse and daily tobacco use in first-episode psychosis

Background: Study of the course of substance misuse and daily tobacco use in first-episode psychosis may enhance detection and treatment of these substance-related problems. Methods: This 15-month follow-up study examined the course of substance misuse and daily tobacco use in 103 individuals treated for first-episode psychosis. Results: Three-quarters (72.6%) of patients with lifetime substance misuse, or half (51.5%) of all patients, continued substance misuse (primarily cannabis) during the 15-month follow-up period. There was a significant reduction in the rate of any substance misuse (70.9% versus 53.4%) but not daily tobacco use (76.7% versus 75.7%) between baseline and 15-month follow-up. Patients who continued substance misuse showed a significant reduction in the severity and frequency of substance use between baseline and follow-up. Patients who continued substance misuse were more likely to be younger, male and single, less likely to have completed secondary school, and more likely to have had more severe cannabis use prior to entry to treatment compared to patients who ceased substance misuse. Discussion: A significant proportion of young patients treated for first-episode psychosis are at risk of mental and physical health problems associated with substance misuse and/or regular tobacco use. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fate of hairpin transcript components during RNA silencing and its suppression in transgenic virus-resistant tobacco

Transgenic tobacco plants, carrying a Potato virus Y (PVY)-NIa hairpin sequence separated by a unique unrelated spacer sequence were specifically silenced and highly resistant to PVY infection. In such plants neither PVY-NIa nor spacer transgene transcripts were detectable by specific quantitative real time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-qPCR) assays of similar relative efficiencies developed for direct comparative analysis. However, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) specific for the PVY sequence of the transgene and none specific for the LNYV spacer sequence were detected. Following infection with Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), which suppresses dsRNA-induced RNA silencing, transcript levels of PVY-NIa as well as spacer sequence increased manifold with the same time course. The cellular abundance of the single-stranded (ss) spacer sequence was consistently higher than that of PVY dsRNA in all cases. The results show that during RNA silencing and its suppression of a hairpin transcript in transgenic tobacco, the ssRNA spacer sequence is affected differently than the dsRNA. In PVY-silenced plants. the spacer is efficiently degraded by a mechanism not involving the accumulation of siRNAs, while following suppression of RNA silencing by CMV, the spacer appears protected from degradation. Crown Copyright (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

RP-HPLC detection of a sulphiting-induced artefact from paeoniflorin in dried roots of Paeonia lactiflora

Paeoniflorin is one of the bioactive ingredients of the roots of Paeonia lactiflora (Paeoniaceae). A comparative study of processed and non-processed commercial samples of dried roots of P. lactiflora indicated a very low level of paeoniflorin in the processed sample and the formation of a new more polar component, sodium paeoniflorin sulphonate, during treatment of the roots with sulphiting agents. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Structural revision of shatavarins I and IV, the major components from the roots of Asparagus racemosus

The two major steroidal saponins from the roots of Asparagus racemosus were isolated by RP-HPLC and their structure determined by extensive NMR studies. Their structures did not match those reported previously for shatavarins. I and IV and were found to be 3-O-{[beta-D-glueopyranosy](1 -> 2)][alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1 -> 4)]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl}-26-O-(P-D-glu(opyranosyl)-(25S)5 beta-furostan-3p,22 alpha,26-triol and 3-O-{[beta-D-glueopyranosyl(1 -> 2)][alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1 -> 4)]-beta-D-glucopyrariosyl}-(25S)-5 beta-spirostan-3 beta-ol. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The HYP program - Targeted motivational interviewing for adolescent violations of school tobacco policy

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of a short-term tobacco-focused intervention for high school students referred by school administrators because of tobacco use. Method. A sample of 56 adolescents (66% male, mean age 15 years) was recruited through referrals from three state high schools. Participants were randomly assigned to a one-hour motivational interview (MI) session or to standard care (advice/education). The two groups were followed up at one, three, and six-month intervals. Results. The MI intervention resulted in significant short-term reductions in quantity and frequency of smoking relative to standard care, however, effects were not maintained at 3- and 6-month follow-up. Improvements in refusal self-efficacy were significant relative to standard care. Conclusion. For adolescents who are established smokers and at high risk of other problems, motivational interviewing was associated with modest short-term gains relative to standard care. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative cost-effectiveness of policy instruments for reducing the global burden of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use

Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use together pose a formidable challenge to international public health. Building on earlier estimates of the demonstrated burden of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use at the global level, this review aims to consider the comparative cost-effectiveness of evidence-based interventions for reducing the global burden of disease from these three risk factors. Although the number of published cost-effectiveness studies in the addictions field is now extensive ( reviewed briefly here) there are a series of practical problems in using them for sector-wide decision making, including methodological heterogeneity, differences in analytical reference point and the specificity of findings to a particular context. In response to these limitations, a more generalised form of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) is proposed, which enables like-with-like comparisons of the relative efficiency of preventive or individual-based strategies to be made, not only within but also across diseases or their risk factors. The application of generalised CEA to a range of personal and non-personal interventions for reducing the burden of addictive substances is described. While such a development avoids many of the obstacles that have plagued earlier attempts and in so doing opens up new opportunities to address important policy questions, there remain a number of caveats to population-level analysis of this kind, particularly when conducted at the global level. These issues are the subject of the final section of this review.